BEDMINSTER - KDC has suspended its plans to build a solar power plant on the 132-acre Kirby Farm on Country Club Road..

In a brief letter to the township on Friday, lawyers for KDC said the company "intends to continue the ongoing process of considering its plans and alternatives in relation to the changing regulatory, tax and business environments, rather than devote further time and resources to the pending application."

KDC, based in Bedminster, proposed building 33,960 solar panels on the site near Bedminster's border with Bridgewater, with the power generated by the solar panels transmitted under Interstate 287 to the North American headquarters of Sanofi on Route 202-206 in Bridgewater.

KDC said the facility would supply 100 percent of Sanofi's power for 20 years.

KDC's decision is a victory for neighborhood residents who mounted a fierce campaign to stop the project, which has been before the township's Land Use Board for more than two years.

In a Facebook post on Monday morning, Stop the Somerset Hills Power Plant, the grassroots group created to fight the project, said "we are not sure that the time for celebration is ripe."

The group said that KDC's attorney, wrote the letter "in such a legalized way that it is difficult to fully understand the ramifications."

The group urged opponents of the plan to demand that the Land Use Board dismiss the application with prejudice.

"Until such action is taken, one should not feel too joyful, just yet," the group wrote.

The Land Use Board will take action on the application at its 7 p.m. March 10 meeting at the municipal building.

Joe Metelski, a former mayor who has opposed the project, said he will not celebrate until the board takes action on KDC's letter which he called "pretty encouraging.".

"It's not over until the fat lady sings," he said.

Michele Donato, attorney for Stop the Somerset Hills Power Plant, said KDC's letter is "tantamount to a dismissal."

However, she explained, the state Municipal Land Use Law does not have a provision for "suspending" an application.

Jeff Tittel, director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said the action "is a victory for open space and the environment."

Though the Sierra Club supports the use of solar energy, Tittel said KDC's proposal was "in the wrong location," adding there is space at Sanofi's office complex for the solar panels in the parking lots, lawns and rooftops.

“Our problem with the location of this proposal wasn’t necessarily that it was located on Kirby Farm," Tittel said. "This project would clear cut 38 acres of trees. Clear-cutting would impact critical species habitat, wetlands, and category 1 streams. We hope KDC proposes an alternative site and the Land Use Board approves it.”

"This was a good idea, but it was in the wrong location,” Tittel said.